Reviewing Transportation, Environment, Agriculture, HousingOn-Time Budget Eyed for Second Straight YearState Senator Patty Ritchie has been named to a special Senate budget subcommittee assigned to review the Governor’s proposed budget.

Famous Spawning Run Was Put at Risk When Patrols Abruptly Pulled Last Year

State Senator Patty Ritchie today pressed the state’s top environmental officer over the need to protect a vital walleye spawning area from poachers, and was told the agency plans to restore its patrols to safeguard the vulnerable spot.

The New York State DEC has reported another successful big game hunting season, but results in Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties were mixed, with St. Lawrence failing to meet a key harvest goal set by the agency.

Senator Ritchie wants to know: How was your 2011 hunt? And what can New York do to make next season's hunt even more satisfying?

Senate Passes Bill To Require Local Representative On Board Of Trustees

State Senator Patty Ritchie called a bill she cosponsored (S.2601) that passed the Senate today to require that one trustee of the New York Power Authority be a resident of St. Lawrence County vital to insuring that the agency works as a partner with Northern New York to create jobs and grow the region's economy.

Citing the example of current NYPA trustee, Eugene Nicandri, a retired St. Lawrence County Court Judge, as an example, Senator Ritchie said it is important that the county have a voice.